“If it was a message, it was the best sort of message,” Anne said. “Being bold does not necessarily make it disrespectful.”
Donny clutched the cage and whispered promises to his new friend, and the sailors clapped him on the back as he passed by.
Richard put his arm around Caroline in the warm twilight. “Are we all ready to sail for Istanbul, then?”
Caroline leaned her head against his shoulder. “If you calculate the days every five minutes, I shall make you sleep in one of the empty cabins.”
“If Smythe has no more passengers for the next leg, I could sleep in an empty cabin—if we paid for it. Would you prefer it?”
“Oh… I suppose not! I have got used to your breathing and your warmth and—perhaps it is not so low-class as I have said.”
“Just very bourgeois.”
“My dear, if you continue to tease, I’ll put a beetle in your shaving water.”
“What waste! Save it for the parakeet, I believe they love beetles.”
Caroline stiffened. “How much do parakeets cost? Could we buy more?Manymore?”
“I don’t think the captain is keen to make theLady Maryan aviary.”
“Ugh, probably not. But it was very thoughtful of Sophia and Mr. Belvedere. I’m glad we were not mistaken in them.”
Well after dark,Sophie and Theodore finally returned to the hotel, having gotten enough necessities to present a respectable appearance in regard to hygiene and baggage. The Thieves’ Market—which she hoped was not so very steeped in thievery—had been a revelation. It reminded her greatly of the East End Ragfair, a London market which respectable women never visited, but where one could buy a plethora of second-hand clothing. The Thieves’ Market was nicer than the Ragfair, for the bright stucco and red tiles were more cheerful than the sooty, dark streets of London’s East End. But like the Ragfair, one could find second-hand clothing, stockings, combs, used razors, hats and bonnets, and much more. Theodore was a little churlish about stooping to the level of aused razor,but Sophia only laughed at him. “I know we could afford better, but we are being circumspect. Especially since we decided to squander those two guineas on the parakeet.”
How easilywetripped off her tongue; it was remarkable. She felt as if she had known him for years, as if he was a dear friend in addition to—something far closer.
“Very well,” he said, “but this is not what I’m accustomed to.”
“Whatareyou accustomed to?” Sophia asked as they returned to their room on the next storey of the Corpo Santo. She had been buoyed up on a wave of determination—and a little fear—while they shopped, but now the exhaustion of the day struck again. They would leave at six in the morning on the road coach to Coimbra, so it would be a short night.
“How do you mean?” He entered the room first and used a taper to light their candle. “What am I accustomed to…?”
Sophia entered in his wake. “You quote Virgil, and you speak of Eton and Cambridge as if you truly attended. You certainly speak like a gentleman, but I know better than anyone that a good education can cover a—chequeredcareer.”
“Ah, yes. As it happens, no, I didnotattend Eton, but Ididspend several years at Cambridge.”
“As a student?”
“Not quite, although I learned more than the average student, I assure you.”
“Oh?” She stripped off her gloves as he poured the water that the housemaid had left for them.
“I was a clerk for a classics professor, a Mr. Monroe. I was his secretary, and sometimes hisamanuensis—I copied out his lectures, kept class records, managed his correspondence. I learned more Latin than I’ll ever use and I acquired—very fair penmanship.”
He stepped aside while Sophia washed her face. One could not rush around Lisbon in June without acquiring a fine sheen of sweat and dust.
“I spoke to many students who had travelled just before they started at Cambridge—that’s how I picked up a little Spanish. That’s also what gave me the idea to pass myself off as an innocent on the Grand Tour.”
“The bagwig who ate the cheese sauce—was that true?”
“Yes, I saw it! I wasn’t part of the prank, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.”
“And the—er—forgery?” she asked delicately.
“After I left Monroe, I took a job at an engraving office in London. Fascinating work, that. Maybe something I’ll do again someday—the engraving, not the forgery. And well, one thing led to another. But I daresay I can find honest work, and if not, thereis always the army.” He used a shoehorn to get off his second boot and started on the buttons of his shirt. “Howdoyou feel about gambling, by the by?”
“Did you fleece those poor boys at Cambridge?”
